IGU’s Management Team Held Centre Stage at WGC2025 in Beijing

IGU’s Management Team Held Centre Stage at WGC2025 in Beijing

Over four (4) days packed with plenary sessions (PLs) and current debates (CDs), IGU’s own management team led by its Vice President (at the time, and currently the President of the IGU), Mr Andrea Stegher, and Secretary General – Mr Menelaos (Mel) Ydreos – kept the panellists at WGC2025 in Beijing last week deeply entrenched in matters fundamental to the global Gas industry.

Joining Mr Stegher and Mr Ydreos – this time for CDs moderation - were IGU’s Director for Strategy and Avocacy, Mr Mark McCrory, and IGU’s Communication Director and Senior Advisor to the Secretary General, Mrs Ella Minty.

Moderating PL04 - The Diversity of Gas Development Globally – Mr Stegher was joined by Mr Jack Fusco (President and CEO at Cheniere), Mr Peter Wong (MD and CEO at the Hong Kong and China Gas Co. Ltd.) and by Dr Philip Mshelbila (MD and CEO at Nigeria LNG) to debate the complexity of the global Gas landscape and diversity of the Gas demand and supply patterns.

Moderating PL06 - What Is the Future of Global LNG? -  Mr Ydreos engaged his session’s panellists on the future of global LNG, where LNG remains pivotal in supporting the energy transition. Joining Mr Ydreos in this session were Mr Farhad Ahrabi – President and CEO at Commonwealth LNG, Dr Sun Xiansheng – Chairman at the International Society of Energy Transition Studies, and Mr Jonathan Westby, Senior Vice President LNG at JERA Global Markets.

Mr Ydreos was also a panellist in the final plenary session at WGC2025, namely PL08 - The Role of Natural Gas in the Future Energy Systems – moderated by Mr Ed Crooks, Vice Chair for the Americas at Wood Mackenzie. Joining Mr Ydreos in the panel were Mr Mohamed Hamel -Secretary General at the Gas Exporting Countries Forum and Mr Marcelo Andres Mena Carrasco – CEO at the Global Methane Hub, and specific emphasis was placed on the global Gas industry’s constant efforts and innovation to address methane emissions, as well as on the role of Gas in supporting economic progress and global growth.

Mr McCrory moderated CD28 - Global LNG Trends - 2025 World LNG Report Release – focussed specifically on the findings of IGU’s 2025 World LNG Report. Joining Mr McCrory for this fascinating current debate were Mr Wang Zhen – Senior Director General at CNOOC, Dr Jeongwook Khang – Head of Policy Research Team at Kogas, Mr Kenneth Foo – Global Director for LNG Pricing at S&P Global, and Ms Xi Nan – Partner at Rystad Energy. 

Mrs Minty moderated two CDs, namely CD07 – AI as an Accelerator for the Digital and Intelligent Transformation of the Natural Gas Industry, and CD26 – Gas in Africa: Natural Gas as an Ideal Choice.

CD07 enjoyed a fantastic exchange between the panellists on the role of AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) in safety operations and predictability of trends and peaks across Gas operations, with Mr Kevin Tu (MD at Agora Energy China), Dr Zhang Jun (Chairman of the Technical Committee at ENN Group Co. Ltd.), Mr Li Chunlei (Senior Vice President at Hanwei Group Electronics Corporation) and Mr Ed Crooks (Vice Chair for the Americas at Wood Mackenzie) taking to the stage.

For CD26, Mrs Minty was joined by Mr Khaled AbuBakr - Chairman at Taqa Arabia and at the Egyptian Gas and Energy Association, by Dr Abubakar Abbas - Senior Energy Forecast Analyst at GECF, by Mr Akachukwu Adeyinka Nwokedi – President at the Nigerian Gas Association, and by Mr Sun Bao – CEO at ZenHua Oil Egypt Company. All the panellists of CD26 made a passionate plea to the global finance and banking community for support in developing Africa’s energy infrastructure system and, particularly, its vast natural gas potential with a view to secure the continent’s population access to a clean, affordable and available energy source: Gas.